More Trouble With Ryan Jurors

By Amy Hart in News on Mar 27, 2006 4:12PM

Last week we learned that the jurors in the George Ryan corruption trial were not getting along.

Then one of the jurors was being investigated for lying on his pretrial questionnaire about a DUI conviction. On Thursday Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer sent the jury home early so she could mull over how to handle the juror in question.

As if that wasn’t enough, on Friday a second juror was accused of lying on her questionnaire about facing past drug charges.

We wonder how these jurors even got selected. Doesn’t anybody look into their background and check the truthfulness of their questionnaires before they are picked?

Today Pallmeyer is expected to announce how the trial will proceed. She could declare a mistrial, which would mean the trial would start all over again. Legal experts don’t seem to think this will end in a mistrial, which is good because we don’t know if we have the patience to go through this all over again. If she kicks the two jurors in question off the case, Pallmeyer could select two alternate jurors to take their place, in which case the deliberations would start all over again. Or she could just go ahead with only ten jurors, which is unlikely and would require approval from both the prosecution and defense.

In other words, don’t look for a verdict anytime soon.

Update: Judge Pallmeyer dismissed the two jurors in question and will soon decide how to proceed with the case.

Image via ABC